West Coast Correspondent Cassidy Blackwell is down in New Orleans for the three days of Essence Music Festival Festivities taking over The Big Easy. Friday July 6th was the first day of action and things jumped off with some good natural hair fun followed by some great music.

First stop was the Motions Style Bar in the W Hotel to meet up with the Motions Global Ambassador Ursula Stephen and check out special guest MC Lyte. Also in attendance were top hair and beauty bloggers LexiWithTheCurls from Atlanta and Renee Bluitt of In Her Shoes from New York.

Aevin Dugas, Guiness Record holder for the worlds largest afro joined up with the NaturallyCurly posse with a huge surprise: her signature afro is all twisted up for the first time in two years! Check out this video interview with her about her twists and summer hair regimen.

LIVE at the SuperDome

The Essence Music Festival line up boasts top names on the roster and this evening we got to get up close and personal with many of the stars including Mary J. Blige, Kevin Hart, and Stephanie Mills. The Superdome was jam packed with thousands of people to catch two of the headlining shows: Trey Songz and D'Angelo, who is beginning to perform again after a decade-long hiatus. Check out some of the best snaps from the first day hitting the pavement at the Essence Music Festival!

A natural attendee rocks a fedora at the night concerts

Goapele

Trey Songz

Mary J. Blige

A press attendee with bold platinum curls and a bright pop of pink

Kevin Hart

MC Lyte

Stephanie Mills

D'Angelo

A Motions stylists who gets her curls from huge bantu knots (think 2" in diameter!)

Cassidy and Aevin Dugas with her twists

An Essence staff person with a great natural hair updo

Final Thoughts

We'll be covering some major ground in the next couple days so make sure to stay tuned to the NC.com Facebook and Twitter page for live updates fresh from the festival!